


Brookdale Senior Living: Slow and Steady
Brookdale Senior Living released its fourth quarter and full-year earnings results this week, and all we can say is that the improvements, while welcomed, are slow and steady. Management has had a lot on its plate the past 18 months or so in a post-pandemic environment, but things like occupancy are moving up, but not as fast as for others. The problem as we have seen and vocalized for several years, is that it takes a long time to move a battleship in a new direction. And as the largest senior living provider in the country, it was a very large battleship to move. Management has successfully put in motion most of the necessary changes for the future, but now comes the execution part, and... Read More »
Welltower and Ventas Continue to Outperform
The Big Two REITs, Welltower and Ventas, continue to outperform the overall seniors housing market, leading the way in the post-pandemic recovery as the two largest owners of seniors housing properties. Welltower reported its fourth quarter and year-end 2024 results first, and it was impressive. Its fourth quarter same-community SHOP NOI increased by 23.9% year over year, while revenue increased by 8.8%. Same-community average occupancy increased by 310 basis points year over year, and the NOI margin jumped by 320 basis points in the fourth quarter. These are unusually strong numbers, but at some point, the growth rate will have to decline as back-to-back 20% plus increases will be... Read More »
60ish Seconds with Steve Monroe: The Coming Seniors Housing Shortage?
The Wall Street Journal just came out with a story about the coming seniors housing shortage. Unfortunately, it started with misinformation, when it stated that “seniors housing has been one of the biggest disappointments for commercial real estate investors.” In some periods yes, but in other periods not at all, when it has had outsized returns and beat the other sectors. It is all about context, and the writer should have known better. The story may, however, generate some investment interest. We are glad that occupancy has reached pre-pandemic levels, but we really need to get to 2017 levels to be happy. Remember, back in October 2020 we did the analysis and concluded it would take at... Read More »
Omega Healthcare Investors Continues Improvement
It has been a slog for owners of nursing homes, but Omega Healthcare Investors continues to improve from the COVID messes it encountered. Major tenant LaVie, which entered into bankruptcy protection last June, paid its full monthly rent of $3.0 million from June 2014 through January 2025. And Maplewood, which ran into some serious problems, paid $4.5 million in rent in January and $12.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. The REIT is also growing, having completed $340 million in new investments in the fourth quarter, and $939 million for the full year. The fourth quarter investments included $179 million in real estate acquisitions and $162 million in new loans. The new loans... Read More »